Comment Archives: Stories

A family friend lost her son in this fire. Other people we know are still missing.

I think a false opposition is being created in this thread. Some people say that people who knew about the situation should have taken preventive action. One might start that list with the master lessee, but not end it there. This horrible fire stands out in part because structure fires have gotten a lot more unusual--fire prevention has been an unsung triumph of government regulation.

Other people say these situations are unavoidable, there's no such thing as safe low cost space in Oakland right now. The only affordable space is physically unsafe space. The City (and other governmental entities) should work to create physically safe artists' housing and performance venues. Other cities (in the US and elsewhere)--starting with Emeryville (!) have been a lot more proactive in creating artists' housing.

I think both the responsibility perspective and the housing shortage perspective are valid.

I've been following this tragic event since it occurred. Going to clubs and shows down in LA, I realize, this EASILY could have been me or any of my friends and/or acquaintances.

I find ALL of the loss of life from this tragedy to be equal.....and find it disheartening that the person writing the article is sad moreso for the attendees who remain unaccounted for who are transgender people and people-of-color. In the 2010's, all we hear about is treating everyone equally and yet, in many scenarios, certain people continue to focus on certain victims instead of ALL of the victims. There are certainly circumstances when these types of people (transgender, gay, etc) are discriminated against and bothered, but it is definitely NOT at a club, a show or an event within the underground community.

I know LA may be a bit different than up there in the Bay area, but if we look at each other equally here within the scene (goth/industrial/EDM/elecronic/dark wave, etc), I can't imagine people up there looking at each other differently.

From the "before" photos of the inside of the building, this venue was a disaster waiting to happen. I have been to places like this, mainly for "after hour" parties and have left many of them after getting that "this can't be good" feeling. For those of you in the scene (the MUSIC scene....I could care less about your skin color, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, etc), please be more careful and vigilant out there. If something doesn't seem right....it may not be and it is better to be safe than sorry.

For all of those who have lost friends and family from this tragedy, my truest condolences.

Tove you are out of order and have the wrong end of the stick so to speak. I can only assume you are a middle aged white man or woman and are out of touch with other people's life experience and or position in life.

A crack down is needed. Landlords rent to people and the people then break the lease by doing illegal activities. Often jimmy rigging electrical or plumbing to accommodate more people.The Ghost Ship better wake people up at City Hall.

No one should die for the sake of art. Art does not get murdered when it follows the rules in a gallery. It gets better because if you want it bad enough you will jump through the hoops to get it. The can do spirit of humans has taken harder blows than this and thrived. This jackass Ion needs to be charged with murder. He is a drugged out poser that doesn't care about the lives lost. It's all about him. I bet the criminal in him wants to hide, but the attention whore side has to go for the light. What if you were at the party? Instead of complaining why don't you go out and help the underground be safe. Get a code book, read it and develop a working relationship with a fire marshal. You could do a whole series of articles on what it takes to be safe and why it so important. Or, you can sit safe behind your computer, whine and throw rocks.

Personal anecdotes on the pulling up of bootstraps always seem so relevant to everyone don't they? i think this letter perfectly points out that city fire policies don't even allow people the chance to bring a space up to code without being displaced. This comment just reeks of "i got mine, so who cares about your?" elitism.

Well put, Mr. Patton. You might add, where is the Chief of Police? We don't even have one of those. Is this information covered under an FOIA request? Note also that the Planning and Building Director has recently left and an interim is in her place, a man frequently interviewed with fewer and fewer answers each time, just several "open investigations." I would say that "heads need to roll," but I'm afraid there's not one responsible head left in Oakland City government.

This is, simply put, horrendously selfish and notice that the condolences to those souls lost in the Ghost Ship (an apt name, now) are at the end of the article, when they are what should be at the tip of our tongues, the top of our minds, right now. So sad you can't "create" and "live," yet somehow I've found a way to do it for over 40 years and put safety first in my living environment. You are not "forced into" ANYTHING. And, most certainly, do not expect to be taken care of by the likes of the City of Oakland or this #derekion dude or any other slumlord. These are the situations that cause us to GROW THE HELL UP. Get politically active and stop this self-indulgent sob story unless you are sobbing about someone you lost at 31st and International. If you went to art school, society took care of you in some way, shape or form. Give it back, and not in the form of bad (or even good) art. Give it back in the form of meaningful action on behalf of those 36 souls. It's on you, it's on us. But this selfish whining has got to stop because the one thing it WON'T stop is this housing and public safety crisis, nor will your art.

OMG!! This is certainly a shocking and a genuine Testimony..I visited a forum here on the internet on the 20TH OF July 2016, And I saw a marvelous testimony of this powerful and great spell caster called DR Papa on the forum..I never believed it, because I never heard nor learnt anything about magic before.. Not a soul would have been able to influence me about magical spells, not until DR Papa did it for me and restored my marriage of 8 years back to me and brought my spouse back to me in the same 48hours just as I have read on the internet..I was truly astonished and shocked when my husband knelt down begging for forgiveness and for me to accept him back.. I am really short of expressions, and I don't know how much to convey my appreciation to you DR Papa, you are a God sent to me and my entire family.. Here is his website: www.supremetemple.com. His Email: supremetemple@hotmail.com

"If Oakland attempts to shut down every party that doesnt have the right permits, even if its for the admirable reason of preventing another Ghost Ship disaster, then it may inadvertently snuff out the beautiful do-it-yourself spirit that animates so much of the citys soul. "

OMG. Dude needs a criminal defense lawyer and fast. Holy moly. Who gives the proverbial shit about how he feels? The NERVE of this BASTARD saying he didn't have enough money when he can pay for a luxury hotel (the Marriot) and was collecting market-level rents for a complete death-trap. You KNOW he is spending that money right now and, as per his poor wife (who he pulled out of rehab against her parents' wishes, and she is the mother of three who should probably be sober or close to it, but is instead with a man with a history of meth, which would explain guns, bullets and crossbows and locking people in), saying that they didn't "have enough money" is a total laugh, if it wasn't so insanely tragic.

Where did you get your money for a hotel that you're still staying in #derekion ? And for all those trips over the years on which you collected the wood items that burned in your hoarder's paradise into which you brought vulnerable people and then stole from them #derekion #ghostshipfire? To answer your rhetorical question about whether you are to blame: I see 36 counts of negligent homicide/involuntary manslaughter and a bunch of other bad stuff (karma's a bitch) coming your way.

(Some deluded folk keep saying you have a side to the story but they can't cite it nor will they defend you or say that you are a nice guy. Looks like the devil is about to get his due after letting 36 souls burn in Hell.)

I was involved with the Rave community in the Bay Area for years and have known numerous artists and others that have lived in warehouses. Most of these people are artists, musicians and kids that don't have the money to afford the high rents in the area.
This guy didn't start the fire, didn't lure people in, and was probably just providing spaces for those that didn't have anything else. I can't imagine what he's going through.
Dear God, bless the people that perished and their hurting families.

This letter is written by an executive assistant to the Fire Chief. Where is the leadership and direction from the Oakland Fire Chief? In all of the press conferences and public official responses regarding this tremendous tragedy, the Fire Chief has been conspicuously absent. All of the public statements have been made by Deputy Chiefs. Where is the Chief and why is she hiding? If this catastrophe does not demand accountability from the top, what will it take? I suspect that in this extremely high profile complex situation regarding a Fire response to field operations and codes, the Chief is woefully incapable of answering questions. As I recall, she was hired by ex City Administrator Santana, who she worked with at the City of San Jose. I believe that in her previous role in San Jose, Oaklands Fire Chief was a numbers cruncher in charge of the Fire Department budget. Once again Oakland shows a lack of leadership from those in executive positions who hire and promote people based on friendships and relationships instead of experience and qualifications. No wonder instructions went out cutting off public access to information. What I suspect is that what we will eventually discover is that several city departments, especially Fire and Building Inspection, had plenty of opportunities in the past to identify and correct multiple code and health and safety violations or prohibit occupancy of this obvious fire trap. The problem is that the culture of work for employees in Oakland allows myopic single focus views of the job. Fire does an inspection, but does not talk to the Building Department. The zoning inspector goes out, but does not include building code inspectors who have a more technical expertise. Everybody only sees their own job, not how they are connected. What is missing throughout the organization are people with a more comprehensive big picture sense of their public duty and how they can use other parts of the organization to actually resolve the issues on their own desk. That direction of how to work has to come from the top and it obviously and unfortunately in this case, did not happen.

From what I've read/heard, the actual residents of the space knew the danger and were somewhat prepared -- there had been small fires there before. It was holding a party on the almost inaccessible second floor that was the height of insanity. Some people should got to jail for this, but a creative solution for some amount of housing or accommodations could come out of this. Could. There are a lot of competing interests and desires. It will take time.

Good point Jessica, years of grassroots community organizing went into this initiative, including Local Clean Energy Alliance, East Bay Clean Power Alliance, Berkeley Climate Action Coalition, Clean Energy & Jobs Oakland, Asian-Pacific Environmental Network, the Sierra Club and others.